Where highbrow meets lowbrow and has a cocktail on the beach. A guide to what is hot and what is not on the Brighton (UK) music, art, festivals, museums and literary scene.

Monday, September 15, 2008

The Lewes Pound

I just saw this on the news and thought I would mention it. In Lewes they have started printing their own money. This is not some crafty forgery scam but an incentive to get people to spend money in local shops rather than the big supermarkets. The idea is that you exchange a pound real money for a "Lewes Pound Note". This can then be used in any of 85 shops around Lewes.

It seems to have a success with all 10,000 of the first set of notes being sold. The only drawback is that people seem to be collecting then and not spending them. There are currently about 40 on ebay and Lewes council say they will print some more in an attempt to get more into circulation.